


Being Human

by queerlyobscure (softestpunk)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Human Castiel, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-24
Updated: 2013-01-24
Packaged: 2017-11-26 17:16:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/652585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softestpunk/pseuds/queerlyobscure
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Cas Falls, Dean takes some time to adjust to the shift in their relationship and figure out his feelings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Being Human

It was probably about time Dean started getting rooms with a double bed. It wasn't that he minded Cas crawling into his halfway through the night, especially with his face wet and body trembling, woken by some nightmare or pain that he'd never had to deal with before, but single beds were barely meant for someone Dean's size, let alone for two fully grown people to share.  
  
It was also, probably, time that Dean started to think about manning up and letting Cas know that he hadn't Fallen for nothing. He'd told himself that looking after him was enough, and considering how hard it'd turned out to be, sometimes he even believed it. But no amount of having to explain basic things to Cas, or dealing with his total lack of pain tolerance, immune system, and common sense, no matter how trying, could make up for him giving up what he was.   
  
The guy had gone through, like, a speciesectomy. Which was totally a thing. The very least Dean could do was show him a little affection. Cas soaked it up whenever he did and flinched when he was forced to withdraw, and Dean knew that, and he was slowly starting to realise that that was the weak thing to do. The strong thing to do would be to get used to the idea that Cas was staying, probably for the rest of his now incredibly short life, and start treating him like he deserved.  
  
And that meant, Dean was pretty sure, not trying to train him to sleep in a separate bed.  
  
So. Rooms with double beds from now on. That was settled.  
  
"'m gonna take care of you for real, Cas." Dean kissed his hair softly, heart clenching as Cas snuggled closer in his sleep. "Just be patient with me."  
  


\- - -

"Dean?" Cas stood in the doorway of their latest motel room, duffle bag hanging from one hand and room key in the other.

"Yeah?" Dean approached from behind, having locked the car and looking forward to getting some sleep before they got to the hunting-scary-things part of the evening.

"There's only one bed in this room." Cas looked between the bed and the number on the door, apparently checking to see if it matched his key.

"I know," Dean tried for casual, but wasn't really sure he'd hit it. To be fair, Cas probably wouldn't notice either way. "Figured we're just gonna end up in the same one anyway, might as well start out that way."

Cas swallowed and then nodded. "Okay. That makes sense." He stepped inside just enough to give Dean space to get in as well, looking down at the floor. "Thank you," he added softly, looking up with shining eyes at Dean, as though he'd just handed him everything he wanted in life.

Dean had never felt more guilty, but he pulled Cas into a hug anyway. At least he was starting to get things right.

\- - -

"Can I kiss you?"

"I beg your pardon?" Cas looked up, eyes wide with alarm, from the motel brochure he'd been pretending to read for the past five minutes. Dean wanted to retreat, say 'nothing, don't worry about it', but he knew that was the easy way out. Cas had heard him just fine, and now he needed to show him that he wasn't just gonna back down.

"It's okay if you don't want me to, but I'd like to kiss you." Dean cleared his throat. "Figure it's about time."

Cas wet his lips, and then nodded. "I believe it's usually customary to kiss before sharing a bed, in fact, and we have been doing so for several months."

"Then we've got catching up to do." Dean grinned and leaned in, intent on showing Cas exactly how much he meant it.

\- - -

"Hey, Cas, kissing is nice, right? You like how it feels?"

"Yes, Dean," Cas answered dryly. "Can we get back to it now?"

Dean licked his lips. Cas was flushed a pretty shade of pink, panting for breath, eyes dark and glazed over. He didn't dare move forward to check what was going on below his waist, but he could make a pretty good guess. He'd half-caught Cas jerking off a couple of times - heard him, mostly, sometimes just known when he came out of the shower - so he definitely knew what his dick was for. Now it was just a question of whether he was interested in sharing.

"You're comfortable with it, right? You've had time to adjust?" How the hell do you ask your ex-angel complicated best-friend-with-some-benefits if he wants to have sex with you? There's no etiquette for that. It'd probably never come up before.

Well, at least trying new things was one of Dean's better-developed skills.

"Yes. Why are you asking?" Cas frowned, pulling back a little to study Dean.

"Umm." Dean could feel the tips of his ears going pink. "Do you, maybe... do you think you'd like... more?"

Cas blinked. "Are you asking me to have sex with you?"

"Uh, yes?" Dean winced at Cas' bluntness.

"Finally." Cas leaped forward and knocked Dean onto his back so he could climb on top of him and kiss him again, this time grinding his hips down into Dean's like he'd been planning this.

Considering how eager he was, maybe he had.

\- - -

"Cas?"

"Mmph?" Cas answered without making any attempt to move from where he was snuggled up against Dean, making his arm fall asleep and tickling his nose with his badly-in-need-of-trimming hair. They'd let it grow for over a year, and it was really time to do something about it. But that wasn't important right now.

Dean swallowed, braced himself, and took a deep breath. "I love you."

In what Dean considered the anticlimax of his life so far, Cas only hummed. When prodded, he looked up with sleepy, grumpy eyes and thumped Dean's chest lightly. "I know."

"What do you mean, you know?" Dean demanded indignantly.

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't know that." Cas gave Dean an indulgent, oh-you-silly-human look and snuggled up against him again. "That's literally the only thing I had to gain by Falling. I'm not so stupid that I'd give up everything else without knowing that I already had what I wanted."

"Yeah, well, I didn't know," Dean complained.

"Do you seriously want a cookie for your total lack of emotional intelligence?" Cas looked up at him again, decidedly unimpressed. Obviously he'd been getting sarcasm lessons from Sam.

"This is not how I pictured this going." Dean frowned.

"Well, I'm too tired to have sex with you again, and while I'm pleased for you that you've figured this out, I don't actually feel any more loved now. I know you love me. I didn't need to hear it to be sure."

"Somewhere in there, you said you were pleased. I'll take that to mean that you meant to say 'I love you too, Dean'."

Cas sighed. "I love you too, Dean."


End file.
